UpperCorner14

In my humble opinion, Konstantinov and Sheppard don't even get a sniff of this top ten list.

As for Shep... He was probably the most one-dimensional top six forward the Wings have had in the last 15 years. He had a great shot and nothing else. His skating ability probably rivals some of the NHL's worst. He had almost no playmaking ability. He was irrelevant defensively. He was not gritty or physical at all. He didn't bring any intangibles. Oh, yeah, but he scored 50 goals in a high scoring era with one of either of two amazing set up men at his side (either Feds or Yzerman, depending on which season). Was he instrumental in winning a cup? Hell, no.

As for Vladdy... I love the guy. Maybe he gets a sentimental (but perhaps undeserved) #10 for what might have been, but there were others who played more and were at least equally instrumental in the Wings' success. If he had played on more than one cup team, then you have an argument. I have a hard time, however, ranking him above guys that were good players for more seasons and were in key roles on multiple cup teams.

Brian Leetch.

Joe Louis Arena or Olympia?

Kaberle.

Grant Fuhr vs. John Vanbiesbrook.

That all depends. Everyone from European and Asian countries all want to come to the NHL to play hockey because the best players are there and North America is the most prosperous place on the planet. IF the RHL was the premiere league (with world media coverage, the best players (most of whom are in the NHL today), and the best hockey being played) that is where I would want to be as a hockey player. As an American, of course I would want to be in America, but if my dream was to be one of the best players in the world I would want to be in the best league, wherever it was.

As for the "he speaks Russian" argument. If he can't learn English than he is lazy. Pavel learned English, the Russian 5 spoke English (except for Kozzy) and all of the other Euros learned English (Lidstrom speaks it better than I do). I could learn Russian, all I would need is the Rosetta Stone program and maybe a tutor to learn specific words, but I think my teammates would help a lot.

But the question is does he want to be a hockey player (and go to the top tiers of his profession) or does he want to be rich in his homeland? It all depends on his personality and where he wants his life to go.

If you'd rather be rich than in teh best league in the world, then go.